CAMP FOLLOWERS.—BANKRUPTCY.

AMONG the most despicable occupations that men engage in, that of camp follower holds a front rank. By plundering the dead, by the practice of extortion upon the living, by taking advantage of the license and reign of terror that follows in the wake of an army, the camp follower plunders the terrified people, not unfrequently claiming to be authorized by the commanders of the army, in order to be more successful in his rapine. Thus he seeks to enrich himself upon the misfortunes and terrors of others and at the expense of the reputation of armies and their commanders. More loathsome are such characters than the vultures that hover about the fields made red by human gore, to glut themselves upon the festering, swollen bodies of the dead. Yet more to be despised than the camp follower is that man who will attach himself to a religious association with a view of profiting in schemes of villainy; and when discovered in his crimes throws the responsibility of his evil doing upon the leaders of said association, claiming that his crimes have been taught to him as a part of his religion! Such men are wholesale character assassins, for by their deeds virtuous communities are brought into disrepute, and reproach is cast upon their religion.

Some such characters had attached themselves to the Saints in Nauvoo and vicinity, and gave a coloring to the charges that were made against The Church, to the effect that the leaders thereof sanctioned stealing, so long as it was practiced on the Gentiles—those not belonging to The Church. Such were the rumors given out by some members of The Church engaged in this infamous business. On the eighteenth of November a nest of such vipers was uncovered at Ramus, near Nauvoo; and they were promptly excommunicated from The Church by the Apostles, who were holding a conference at the place on the date above mentioned. Both Joseph and Hyrum took advantage of the occasion to make affidavits before proper officers of the law to the effect that they had never given their sanction to such infamous doctrine as that attributed to them;^[1] and the Twelve Apostles in an epistle to the public disavowed ever sanctioning the crime of theft.

Hyrum in his affidavit says:

I hereby disavow any sanction, or approbation by me of the crime of theft, or any other evil practice in any person or persons whatever, whereby either the lives or property of our fellow-men may be unlawfully taken or molested; neither are such doings sanctioned or approbated by the First Presidency or any other persons in authority or good standing in The Church, but such acts are altogether in violation of the rules, order and regulations of The Church, contrary to the teachings given in said Church, and the laws of both God and man.

In a public declaration to which Joseph appended his affidavit, the Prophet said:

It has been proclaimed upon the housetops and in the secret chamber, in the public walks and private circles throughout the length and breadth of this vast continent, that stealing by the Latter-day Saints has received my approval; nay, that I have taught them the doctrine, encouraged them in plunder, and led on the van—than which nothing is more foreign from my heart. I disfellowship the perpetrators of all such abominations; they are devils and not Saints, totally unfit for the society of Christians or men. It is true that some professing to be Latter-day Saints have taught such vile heresies, but all are not Israel that are of Israel; and I want it distinctly understood in all coming time, that The Church over which I have the honor of presiding, will ever set its brows like brass, and its face like steel, against all such abominable acts of villainy and crime.

Nor were the Twelve less forcible in denouncing this iniquity. In an epistle printed at the same time with the above they said:

We know not how to express our abhorrence of such an idea, and can only say it is engendered in hell, founded in falsehood, and is the offspring of the devil; that it is at variance with every principle of righteousness and truth, and will damn all that are connected with it. * * * We further call upon The Church to bring all such characters before the authorities, that they may be tried and dealt with according to the law of God and delivered up to the laws of the land.

About this time, too, there were gangs of robbers operating up and down the Mississippi river from which the Saints suffered, as many of their horses and cattle were stolen; but more serious injury arose from the fact that the acts of these robbers were attributed to the Saints themselves, and did much to prejudice the minds of the public against them.

In the month of December the attempt to build up the town of Warren, located one mile south of Warsaw, was abandoned. As early as the fall of 1839 Daniel S. Witter, a man owning a sawmill at Warsaw, held out inducements to the First Presidency of The Church to settle at or in the vicinity of Warsaw, but the location where the Saints built up Nauvoo was considered preferable. Still Witter, Aldrich, Warren, and others continued to solicit the authorities of The Church to make an attempt to build up a city near Warsaw; and finally, in the spring of 1841, an agreement was entered into between The Church authorities and Witter, Warren and Aldrich—owners of the school section located just south of Warsaw—by which any of the Saints settling on this school section, already surveyed into town lots and called Warren, were to have certain privileges granted them.

In September, Willard Richards was located at Warsaw and made what preparations he could to receive settlers. Some few families of Saints gathered there, and in November two hundred and four emigrants from England were counseled to locate in that vicinity. But no sooner had preparations to build up the place been made than the citizens of Warsaw attempted to form an anti-Mormon association, and manifested other symptoms of an unfriendly character. They raised the rents—Mr. Witter himself raised one dollar per barrel on flour, while Aldrich forbade the people using the old wood on the school section. These unfriendly demonstrations led to the abandonment of the enterprise of building up Warren, and the Church authorities promptly advised the Saints who had located there to remove to Nauvoo.

The winter of 1841-2 was a busy one for Joseph and those who labored with him as his scribes. He read the proof-sheets of the Book of Mormon previous to its being stereotyped; and prepared that concise yet admirable historical sketch of the Rise and Progress of the Church, together with a summary of the principles it teaches—now known as the Articles of Faith—for Mr. Wentworth of Chicago, who was writing a history of Illinois. He also prepared for publication his translation of the Book of Abraham from Egyptian papyrus, and which in its importance as a record of the ancient saints brought to light in this age, stands only second to the Book of Mormon.

The Egyptian papyrus came into the possession of the Prophet through one Michael H. Chandler, who was travelling through Ohio exhibiting several Egyptian mummies and rolls of papyrus that were found in the coffin containing the mummies. Chandler claimed to have obtained the Egyptian treasures as a bequest from an uncle who had traveled in Egypt. But it matters little how Chandler came into possession of the mummies; the Saints in Kirtland purchased them, and the two rolls of papyrus proved to be the writings of Abraham and of Joseph who was sold into Egypt; and the record of Abraham, at least in part, was translated and published by the Prophet. Its importance is of the character above stated.^[2]

These labors, together with instructing the Saints, attending debating schools, laboring in the city council, and organizing and instructing women's Relief Societies, occupied the attention of the Prophet until the opening of spring.

Meantime Nauvoo had been rapidly building up. Work on the temple and Nauvoo House was being pushed with considerable vigor; and many neat cottages had taken the place of the rude temporary cabins that had been constructed to shelter the people until their industry could win better homes. The population in the spring of 1842 was between eight and ten thousand. The stream of emigration from the British mission by that time had commenced to flow in and the new citizens assisted in no small degree to increase the prosperity of this central gathering place of the Saints.

But The Church had passed through a long period of disaster. Time and again the early members of The Church had been driven away from their homes, and while their faith in their religion remained unshaken, these frequent drivings and mobbings stripped them of their property and of course ruined their financial schemes; and though their prospects at Nauvoo began to brighten, the people were constantly plagued by the presentation of old claims upon them, their creditors making small or no allowance for the disasters which had overtaken them. This was a constant draft upon their resources and a great hindrance to the growth of Nauvoo. Finally, as a means of protection against unreasonable, importunate creditors, a number of the leading brethren, among them the Prophet Joseph, took advantage of the bankrupt law. Under this law any one owing a certain amount more than he was able to pay, made out a schedule of his property and likewise of his debts, and placed both in the hands of an assignee, who paid his creditors whatever percentage of his debts his property amounted to; and the assignor could start again without being compelled to pay any of the old claims held against him previous to his declared insolvency. In whatever light this action on the part of the brethren may appear at first sight, an examination into all the circumstances will reveal the fact that as a means of self-protection it became absolutely necessary. They were financially down, and before they could rise to their feet, inexorable creditors were upon them to take away their substance. If it is possible for an individual or a company to be justified in taking advantage of the bankrupt law, then the Mormon leaders were. There was no effort on the part of those who took advantage of the bankrupt law to defraud their creditors. To parties with whom Joseph had contracted for lands, he wrote that he still considered his contracts with them as good; and in the case of the Hotchkiss purchase he proposed to renew the contract. This step placed the brethren beyond the power of their unjust creditors, and necessity compelled the action.

Footnotes

1. Times and Seasons for December, 1841.2. Those who would know more of this ancient record are referred to the Pearl of Great Price where they will fund the translation of it; and for a pretty full consideration of its claims to being a genuine ancient record, and an inspired book, the reader is referred to "The Divine Authenticity of the Book of Abraham," by Elder George Reynolds.